It's views like this that make Cabo San Lucas and the Los Cabos area such a treat for golfers of all skill levels.
Few other places on Earth can rival the beauty that a coastal desert environment brings to the game of golf.
GOLF COURSE DIRECTORY FOR LOS CABOS
CABO REAL
Designed by Robert Trent Jones, JR. this 6,988 yard course is located in the Cabo Real development off of Hwy 1 in the tourist corridor of Cabo. A par 72 course with a rating of 74.1 and a slope of 140, you’ll be hard pressed to break par, let alone break the course record of 65. Green fees range from about $115 off season twilight to $225 peak season. Resort guests are given priority so booking your tee time early is important.
PALMILLA GOLF CLUB
From towering cacti and deep arroyos to breathtaking views of the Sea of Cortez, the signature Jack Nicklaus course offers challenges and delights. The course is divided into the Arroyo Nine, the Mountain Nine and the Ocean Nine. Five sets of staggered tee boxes, stunning fairways, four lakes and deep shifts in elevation ensure golfers of every skill level a memorable and exciting game. Palmilla Golf Club has been rated as one of the top 100 in the world by Great Golf Resorts of the World. Green fees start around $90 for off-season twilight rounds to $205 during the peak season. Resort guest are offered preferred tee times and special rates. Full pre-payment is required to confirm tee times. All prices include guest fees, shared cart, practice balls, and bottled water. Tee times for outside guests may be booked 30 days in advance.
RESERVATIONS:
USA: 1-954-809-2726
LOS CABOS: 624-144-5250 ONLINE TEE TIMES MAIN WEBSITE
CABO SAN LUCAS COUNTRY CLUB
This Dye Designed 18-hole golf masterpiece designed to test the mettle of players at all levels of ability. The play from the back tees is the most difficult in Cabo and the play from the middle tees is the friendliest. Located only minutes from downtown Cabo San Lucas on gently sloping terrain overlooking the Sea of Cortez, this 200 acre course has been literally carved out of the mountain and desert terrain while maintaining the fragile eco-system and remains a natural habitat for all manner of flora and fauna. Hole 18 is home to the most spectacular panoramic views of Lands End and is a must see by golfers and non-golfers alike! Green fees range from $69 for twilight rounds during the summer to $189 during the Peak Season. All golf rates are inclusive of practice balls, golf cart and bottled water. All golf rates are subject to change and do not include the 10% IVA tax.
CABO DEL SOL - DESERT COURSE
This masterful Tom Weiskopf design is an inland layout with 180-degree views of the sea from nearly every hole. The course varies in length from 5,300 to 7,100 yards, with five sets of tees making it comfortable for all levels of play. The design takes advantage of natural river washes, subtle changes in elevation and dramatic bunkering. Green fees range from $99 for their summer special from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm to $220 during the peak season. All guest fees include 18 holes of golf, shared cart, practice balls and bottled water. Full pre-payment is required to confirm tee times. Guests of resort properties located within the Cabo del Sol community receive preferred tee times at special discounted rates.
CABO DEL SOL - OCEAN COURSE
A world-renowned Jack Nicklaus Signature design stretching for more than a mile along a coastline of craggy rock outcroppings and sun-washed shores often referred to as the Pebble Beach of Baja. This championship layout is praised by Nicklaus himself for having the “three finest finishing holes in all of golf.” The 5th and signature 17th holes are ranked among “The 500 Best Holes in the World” according to Golf Magazine. Green fees range from $145 off-season twilight to $295 peak season and include 18 holes of golf, shared cart, practice balls and bottled water. Full pre-payment is required to confirm tee times. Guests of resort properties located within the Cabo del Sol community receive preferred tee times at special discounted rates.
The Cabo San Lucas Country Club offers affordable golf in Cabo as well as spectacular scenery and ocean views.
THE CABO SAN LUCAS COUNTRY CLUB GOLF COURSE If you ventured down to Cabo in the eighties or nineties, you most likely made the trip south of the border and down the peninsula for the sole reason of pulling on some fish filling your off-the-water time by sucking down a few cold beers and tossing back shots of tequila. But with the building boom that started in the eighties and continues today, golf has made its way onto the growing list of reasons to visit our southerly neighbors. There are now more golf courses in Los Cabos than you can, well… shake a club at.
In the beginning, there was the Los Cabos Country Club – forerunner of the plethora of courses that followed its opening in 1994. The Dye designed course was no doubt the place to swing a club and, hopefully, take a few ducats away from your friendly foursome members. Even with the introduction of several new courses from 1996 through 2001, the Los Cabos Country Club held it’s own – mostly by offering greens fees that were often less than half the rate charged at the other up and comers. That all changed in 2001.
Hurricane Juliet ransacked Cabo San Lucas in late September of that year and it was a storm that had serious staying power parking itself over the Cape for days while still a category 4 hurricane. Juliet killed 7 and did well over $25 million in damage to the area before it finally dissipated to a tropical depression and moved north. The Cabo San Lucas Country Club got what many believe was the worst of it. The damage was so extensive that many thought the days of golf just 5 minutes from Land’s End were over. Holes ten through fifteen were literally wiped off the map and buried under a dozen feet of runoff that came tumbling down from the mountains above. Luckily, a multi-million dollar investment was made by Intrawest Golf Group to restore the course and according to those that have been regular players for ages, it’s better than ever. A recent visit to tour the course in May of 2009 makes me agree.
The views at Cabo San Lucas Country Club vary from stunning vistas of Land's End to desert landscapes.
What set’s this course apart from the others in the world of Baja Sur golf is its proximity to Cabo proper and the famous, awe-inspiring formations of Land’s End. No other course in Los Cabos offers up the views of Cabo Bay and the rocky slab of desert that juts out and dissects the Sea of Cortez and Pacific Ocean like a stone scalpel. But there’s more to the course than just the view.
What seems like an easy and forgiving layout is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing (or is that a wahoo in trout clothing?). The course is toothy and long, long, long. In fact, it boasts the longest hole in all of Los Cabos – the 610 yard, par 5 seventh hole – a monster that makes reaching it in two impossible and in three a happy, happy day. It undulates its way through rough desert terrain where water hazards and sand traps are carefully arranged to wreak havoc on errant shots and scorecards alike. In total, you’ll be covering over 7,200 yards if you’re hitting from the black tees. Elevation changes of just over 300 feet keep things interesting – finding yourself with a flat lie in the middle of the fairway is a gift from the golf god’s as most pieces of real estate here dip, drop, rise and fall like the ocean on a “sporty” day. Fortunately, the fairways are wide and real tree trouble is hard to find. Greens are firm yet speedy.
The driving range at the country club is an excellent place to warm-up for a round of golf.
Nature lovers will have plenty to gawk at… roadrunners, pelicans, and cranes are just a few of the winged marvels on the course but don’t forget turn your gaze towards the cacti as they make great homes for the courses abundant reptilian life. There are so many lizards in the cacti they could well be golf commentators perched in their towers, one looked a lot like Pat Summerall to me a I swear it was laughing at my version of a controlled draw which often imitates a duck hook.
Iguanas take up residence in the cacti around the golf course seeming like announcers at a PGA event.
With its blend of mountain, desert and coastal views, challenging design and myriad wildlife, the Cabo San Lucas Country Club is not only a pleasure to play it’s also quite a bargain when compared to rates at the other courses in the region. A visit to their web site is well worth the time as they often offer special golf vacation packages that are ridiculously cheap with some offers as low as $98 per person for a 4-day 3-night stay that includes a round of golf. For more information about the the golf resort and current golf vacation specials, to book tee times, or to arrange a visit, please visit GolfinCabo.com, the official website of the Cabo San Lucas Country Club and Golf Resort.
When the rounds over, why not cool off with a dip the resort's swimming pool.
